Protect Lifesaving Anesthesia Care for Veterans Act of 2023

Protect Lifesaving Anesthesia Care for Veterans Act of 2023

This bill prohibits the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) from modifying its policy relating to anesthesia care in a manner that would provide any medical professional other than a physician anesthesiologist with full practice authority for the furnishment of anesthesia care to veterans under VA health care laws. The VA is also prohibited from finalizing, implementing, or enforcing the provisions relating to anesthesia care of the proposed rule titled Advanced Practice Registered Nurses (81 Fed. Reg. 33155), or any substantially similar rule.

[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2070 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 2070

To prohibit the Secretary of Veterans Affairs from replacing physician 
 anesthesiologists with certified registered nurse anesthetists under 
 the health care system of the Department of Veterans Affairs, and for 
                            other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             June 21, 2023

  Ms. Cantwell (for herself and Mr. Cassidy) introduced the following 
 bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans' 
                                Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To prohibit the Secretary of Veterans Affairs from replacing physician 
 anesthesiologists with certified registered nurse anesthetists under 
 the health care system of the Department of Veterans Affairs, and for 
                            other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Protect Lifesaving Anesthesia Care 
for Veterans Act of 2023''.

SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON REPLACEMENT OF PHYSICIAN ANESTHESIOLOGISTS UNDER 
              HEALTH CARE SYSTEM OF DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS.

    (a) Prohibition.--The Secretary of Veterans Affairs may not--
            (1) modify the policy of the Department of Veterans Affairs 
        relating to anesthesia care in a manner that would provide any 
        medical professional other than a physician anesthesiologist 
        with full practice authority for the furnishment of anesthesia 
        care to veterans under the laws administered by the Secretary 
        of Veterans Affairs (including by providing certified 
        registered nurse anesthetists with such full practice 
        authority); or
            (2) finalize, implement, or enforce the provisions relating 
        to anesthesia care of the proposed rule titled ``Advanced 
        Practice Registered Nurses'' and published in the Federal 
        Register on May 25, 2016 (81 Fed. Reg. 33155), or any 
        substantially similar rule.
    (b) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in this section shall be 
construed to limit the authority of the Secretary of Veterans Affairs 
to issue any short-term emergency order relating to the safety, care, 
or well-being of veterans during surgical procedures.
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